Dear Editor,
I really don’t know if this Parliament is one of high expectations, but I for one have no confidence in, and will certainly not elect anyone who behaves like a lout. The fact is that a politician should not conduct him/herself in a manner that would cause him/her to be spurned and expelled from even some roadside bars.
Everald Warmington’s outburst on Tuesday, January 19, 2016 in Parliament, when he described the Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna as a “jezebel”, is an example of loutish behaviour. In this particular case, the important matter of debating Jamaica’s National Minimum Wage suffered at the expense of the St Catherine West Central member of parliament’s actions.
The truth is that when our politicians persist in name calling and other disruptive behaviour in childish tirades, they waste the nation’s time at the taxpayers’ expense. Most of us know quite well how strident and ill-mannered Warmington can be, but given that the Parliament is the highest ‘court’ in the land and the place where debates affect the life of every Jamaican, should he continue to get away with even temporarily robbing the people’s House of professional legitimacy?
Hanna has called for MP Warmington to be disciplined by the Parliament, but does he need it? Will it change him? I doubt that any form of discipline will affect Warmington since, like most in Parliament, he may have blessings of natural immunity. If his raucous behaviour continues to be unveiled during parliamentary sittings Warmington will emerge as an enemy of the constituents he serves, since any disciplinary action against their member of parliament will affect them.
Freedom of speech is a great measure, but the name calling and insults during a sitting of Parliament is shameful.
Contrast this scenario against the flak that West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle got for presumably ‘flirting’ with a female reporter recently. Public reactions alone highlight the protection Warmington receives from some quarters of Jamaica that still maintain archaic ideas about the chest-beating macho figure who always gets his way.
If Jamaica and Parliament are content with the current despicable manners displayed in the Parliament, and in some lesser developed democracies around the world, then we can settle for rule by protagonists, with the attached disgraceful behaviour and bad manners. However, if we want to improve on what prevails, the powers that be must police Parliament and stamp out this undesirable and unsavoury behaviour.
Jerome Hanson
jjhanson15@outlook.com
I really don’t know if this Parliament is one of high expectations, but I for one have no confidence in, and will certainly not elect anyone who behaves like a lout. The fact is that a politician should not conduct him/herself in a manner that would cause him/her to be spurned and expelled from even some roadside bars.
Everald Warmington’s outburst on Tuesday, January 19, 2016 in Parliament, when he described the Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna as a “jezebel”, is an example of loutish behaviour. In this particular case, the important matter of debating Jamaica’s National Minimum Wage suffered at the expense of the St Catherine West Central member of parliament’s actions.
The truth is that when our politicians persist in name calling and other disruptive behaviour in childish tirades, they waste the nation’s time at the taxpayers’ expense. Most of us know quite well how strident and ill-mannered Warmington can be, but given that the Parliament is the highest ‘court’ in the land and the place where debates affect the life of every Jamaican, should he continue to get away with even temporarily robbing the people’s House of professional legitimacy?
Hanna has called for MP Warmington to be disciplined by the Parliament, but does he need it? Will it change him? I doubt that any form of discipline will affect Warmington since, like most in Parliament, he may have blessings of natural immunity. If his raucous behaviour continues to be unveiled during parliamentary sittings Warmington will emerge as an enemy of the constituents he serves, since any disciplinary action against their member of parliament will affect them.
Freedom of speech is a great measure, but the name calling and insults during a sitting of Parliament is shameful.
Contrast this scenario against the flak that West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle got for presumably ‘flirting’ with a female reporter recently. Public reactions alone highlight the protection Warmington receives from some quarters of Jamaica that still maintain archaic ideas about the chest-beating macho figure who always gets his way.
If Jamaica and Parliament are content with the current despicable manners displayed in the Parliament, and in some lesser developed democracies around the world, then we can settle for rule by protagonists, with the attached disgraceful behaviour and bad manners. However, if we want to improve on what prevails, the powers that be must police Parliament and stamp out this undesirable and unsavoury behaviour.
Jerome Hanson
jjhanson15@outlook.com